WELCOME TO MY GARDENING BLOG!

I obviously hope you enjoy browsing through the postings on here - do feel free to leave comments as it's always good to see who's visiting and to hear about other people's experiences - after all you never stop learning do you?

If you've any gardening questions or you live in Brittany and are looking for some gardening help - be it design work, planting or general gardening or you simply would like some advice, please don't hesitate to CONTACT MEor call me on 0033 661 77 23 89 (from UK) or 0661 77 23 89 (from France).

Happy gardening!

Thursday, 11 February 2010

More surprises....

Well I must admit this morning was a surprise in itself to open the curtains to find a couple of cm of snow lying in the garden - there was me thinking that spring at last was on it's way and then this!! Well there are some benefits too in that the weather today certainly brought some extra visitors to the bird table and needless to say didn't get a great deal of work done - too distracted by all the actiivty in the garden!!

The Snowdrops are amazing little flowers - so small yet so robust... and SO beautiful too.

The best bit was actually getting the Fieldfares in the garden ... at last... and have managed a reasonable picture of them - these were all taken from indoors through the window so am quite pleased really!

I can now report that we have two Goldfinches coming regularly to the bird table now which is great... maybe there will be baby Goldies to come?

Today's snow also brought the male Black Cap - as well as the Fieldfares he seemed to be interested only in the apples that I'd put on the grass - ones that I'd picked in the autumn and which had now seen better days... they appreciated them! I couldn't believe how horrible the Blackbirds and the Fieldfares were being to each other - this was the bird version of road rage I think!!

I managed to get some closer shots of the bird table later in the day from our porch... the Blue and Great Tits are so funny...

Finally to end the day I took Lucy for her walk and decided on some black and white pics to end the posting...

Do hope you've enjoyed some of the snippets from my day here... I wonder what the rest of the week will bring?

Dear Miranda, YES, I have enjoyed reading your 'snippets' and loved all of your bird pictures. I can well see how easily one can become distracted from one's work. But does it really matter? Non!! [lol].

Thank you so much for visiting my site, leaving a comment [to which I have replied], and for becoming a 'Follower'.

Thanks Liz - there's not much snow remaining but it's still v.v. cold. It was fantastic to see the Fieldfares a bit closer to home - they have been SO difficult to photo as they perch right at the top of the really tall poplars or are well camouflaged amongst the oak leaves. The Blackcap was great to see too - we had a pair in the garden during the earlier v. cold weather but this is the first time I've seen them since. I love Goldies - so they make lots of noise... I guess it depends on how many of them there are...

You've taken some beautiful photos on your site and am hoping to get myself a better camera sometime this year... with a better zoom - do you have any recommendations? Hope you don't mind me asking.

Hope too that the sunny weather lingers in your neck of the woods - Miranda

I just love the birds you get there...similar, yet different, than ours here in the US. It's always the case here, too, that a dusting of snow--or a blizzard--brings the birds to my yard. I just love watching them all. Looks like a good day was had by all in your neck of the woods.

Re: the broken link you pointed out, thank you for doing so! I have fixed it now. I appreciate you letting me know. I do have it mentioned at the very top of the blog, and on the sidebar, with a link at both places--but I understand that when you are reading a post you don't want to be trying to make your way all over the place to find something!

It would be wonderful if you'd join in. The only thing is that you wouldn't be eligible for the give away that I'm having with it. But if you'd like to put up a brief post and mention a thing or two that you do to contribute to a 'green', then go back to my original post and leave a message with your link, I'll add it to my sidebar. If you'd like to take a look at the original post here it is:

Gorgeous bird shots! I'm jealous. I am not very good at getting pics of them, although I've tried. :( Still, all the birds pictured were new to me as we are on different continents, and I enjoyed sighting them vicariously through your blog. :)

No snow here but we have a very heavy frost and our little pond is frozen :-( Not sure if the frogspawn will survive it! I did enjoy looking at your pics, so many birds and I love trees, so beautiful with the snow. Enjoy your weekend.

Great to see you had a visit from Fieldfare. Lovely selection of bird visitors you have. I am intrigued by the design of your bird table. The small openings look great for keeping the greedy large birds off it.

Lovely to see your Snowdrops and snowbirds :) The Fieldfares which visited my garden really were 'foul weather friends' as they haven't been seen since! We had a dusting of snow and right on cue the Pied Wagtail popped in, it only ever visits when there is snow on the ground.

Lovely photos throughout including the atmospheric black and white ones.

Thanks Edith - so glad you enjoyed the posting - yesterday was a fun day and no it's not a problem if I get distracted now and again... part of the fun of living in the French countryside! Have a good weekend - Mirandax

Hi Jan - I had a lovely day Jan thanks - there were just SO many birds coming and going all day it was had taking my eye off want was going on! Snow all gone now but SO SO cold - will definitely make a point of adding a posting to your "Green" meme... hope you have a good weekend ... Miranda x

Hi Meredith - thanks for your kind compliments - taking the bird pics have taken working at and would dearly love a better camera to take the shots of them further away as not all come to the bird table... but all in good time! I find the colder the weather here the tamer the birds are or maybe it's the case that they're so hungry they don't mind me being around! Have a good weekend - Mirandax

Thanks Sandra - hope you're okay down in your part of Brittany - do you still have snow... your blog is coming on leaps and bounds by the looks of it too!

This is the first year we've had Fieldfares in the garden - they've been here today as well - I put a pile of apples in the garden which seems to keep them happy as well as the Blackbirds and Blackcap too!

I take it you didn't get to Rennes this week? Take care and speak soon Miranda x

Thanks for popping over Chris - I'm so sorry about your pond being frozen - hope your frogspawn survives okay... this is the problem when they lay SO early in the season. V. cold again today here and not much let up according to the forecast for the days to come :-( Have a good weekend Miranda x

Hi MM John - thanks for visiting my blog - always lovely to have new visitors and new blogs to visit too... I love the birds here and we seem to get quite a variety too... the first year we've had the Fieldfares - we've had massive flocks around here - and they seem to love the apples :-).

The Bird Table infact was a wedding present from 6 years ago purchased from our list from John Lewis - it's great as you say for the smaller birds - it did have a platform half way up the stem which was open - for the larger birds but I had to get rid of this as the cats were using this to - would you believe it get onto the roof of the bird table and there they would sit!! So we now have another open table - with a mesh bottom which is quite good especially in wet weather - the food has a chance to dry out afterwards instead of staying a soggy mess! Hope you have a good weekend with more Stock Doves visiting... Miranda

Hello Shysongbird - many thanks for your encouraging comments - I just love Snowdrops and have enjoyed many of those with interesting botanical names shown on other blogs at the moment... It's a shame that some of the birds don't visit all the time - the first year we've ever had Fieldfares in the garden but I think it's probably all the cold weather plus the apples I put out on the lawn! I'm sure they'll be away once things warm up a little.. have a good weekend - Miranda x

I love the views that you shared with us. I think snowdrops are so beautiful - we do not have them here in the desert, probably because it rarely snows :^). The Blue Tits have such pretty markings. I look forward to seeing what spring brings to your garden, once the snow melts.

Hi Miranda....your fieldfare looks extremely grumpy. I have read on many blogs they can be very aggressive. I have not seen that personally....the ones that I had in the garden seemed quite friendly....

The black and white photographs are great. I have a preference for them I have to confess. Probably my age....all my wedding photographs are black and white (no colour then)

Hi Miranda, It's snowing here today! It has been years since we had enough snow to accumulate. I'll be posting on it later today, though i think most folks are tired of looking at snow. Not me! Your photos are so beautiful. I am amazed at how great your bird shots are. Have a great weekend, and stay warm!

Hi Noelle - a really warm welcome to my blog - thanks so much for taking the time to pop over... I also look forward to seeing what Spring brings in our own garden but also in other peoples' too - the joy of having blogs and sharing what goes on over the other side of the world - I'm guessing the gardening for you will be VERY different to that here.. keep in touch and have a lovely weekend... Miranda

Hi Cheryl - hope you're having a snow-free weekend... I also love Black and White photography - not an age thing at all - somehow the simplicity brings out different things from a pretty scene... it makes you see things in a different way. Mr Fieldfare is rather grumpy and he's been a real bully to the other birds over the apples but none the less it's great having him in the garden! Take care and enjoy your weekend - Miranda x

Hi Debs - thanks for visiting - hope you're not completely snowed in by now... I do love the snow :-) Thanks for all your lovely encouraging comments... taking bird pictures has taken some working at and would love a camera with a better zoom for better closeups... you just try and work with what you have and for that I'm v. grateful! Have just lit a fire - time now for a cuppa tea! Miranda x

Hi ST - lovely to have a visit from you - thanks for your comments... one of the best bits of the snow has been all the birdy visitors... not to mention the one we had down the chimney - did you read the story in my previous posting.. worth a glance! Have a good weekend - Miranda

Hi Catmint - thanks so much for visiting and leaving the lovely comments... pleased to that you enjoyed your visit to my blog... I've so enjoyed being able to share experiences in Brittany with people further afield. There aren't many bloggers in France as yet but growing conditions and birds etc are v. similar to that in the UK - especially the south! Hope you're having warmer weather with you than we are here - keep in touch Miranda x

Click logo to view my Business Website!

About Me

An experienced, RHS qualified gardener and garden designer. Passionate about the huge benefits of creating and designing gardens which not only encourage wildlife but enable you to garden a lot more organically.

Gites in FranceLists hundreds of French gites and villas for holiday rental.

Copyright Notice –No reproduction of text or photos without express permission of this author.The text and pictures of this blog are the sole property of Jardinmiranda.

Any use of these pictures or text without the express permission of Jardinmiranda is forbidden.

You DO NOT have permission to scrape my feed or content excerpts as part of a Splog or commercial website.

Copyright protects the rights of the creators of published and unpublished original works, including photographers, artists, architects, publishers, singers, writers, and composers. Many types of works are covered: literary works, musical works, dramatic works, pantomimes and choreography, pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works, motion pictures, audiovisual works, sound recordings, architectural works. The copyright holder has the exclusive right to reproduce the work, prepare derivative works, distribute and/or sell copies of the original work, and perform or display the work publicly.Works created and published on or after January 1, 1978, are protected from creation throughout the life of the creator plus 70 years after the creator’s death. Unpublished works are protected from the life of the author plus 70 years. If the death date of a creator of an unpublished work is unknown, the work is protected 120 years from its creation. You may want to consult http://www.loc.gov/copyright/ to learn about current law.